Oscar Ghiglia at 70: A Tribute

Oscar Ghiglia first entered my life on March 16, 1968, when he came to Philadelphia to play a recital for the Society of the Classical Guitar. The world was young then. Although the horrible War in Vietnam still raged and the civil rights movement was riddled with dissension between its own doves and hawks, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy had not yet been murdered. We still thought things could and would change for the better.

Into this world and out of some other magical universe all his own walked Oscar Ghiglia. Although it is almost 40 years ago to the day as I write this, I still remember that first concert and many of the works that were on the program: the “La Frescobalda” Variations of Frescobaldi, the famous harp Fantasia of Mudarra, the Prelude Fugue and Allegro of Bach, Mallorca by Albeniz, La Maja de Goya of Granados, the Fantasia-Sevillanas of Turina, Falla’s Homenaje, Poulenc’s Sarabande, Ohana’s Tiento, Roussel’s Segovia…. I was a boy of 13 just discovering how much he loved playing the guitar. Oscar was 5 months away from turning 30.

Oscar’s concert had a huge effect on all of us in Philadelphia. We had never heard the guitar played with such pure, unaffected elegance. Every note seemed bathed in beauty, yet made sense in some bigger universe governed by the eternal laws of the art of music. The legacy of Segovia was evident, but this was no copy of Segovia, rather a reinvention in an exquisite, personal way of many of the same principles (a vocal approach to melody, intimate knowledge of the different contrapuntal voices, an orchestral approach to color, etc.) that governed Segovia’s cosmos. Anyone who heard Oscar in those years will confirm that his playing forever changed the way we thought of our instrument.

I really met Oscar as Oscar about a year later when he returned to Philadelphia by popular demand. On the eve of his recital he also taught a brief workshop for the Society. At 7 PM sharp he seemed to materialize suddenly on the threshold of a room filled with the cacophony of a bunch of guitarists simultaneously warming up. With his trademark long beard and 1960’s hair style (not too different from his 2008 hair style!) dressed in a hand knit purple sweater, he appeared in a huge cloud of his own cigarette smoke like some immense benevolent genie who had magically emerged from an invisible bottle.

The class had gone on for around three hours and Oscar was obviously really ready to go back to his hotel and rest. As a formality he asked if everyone had played. In fact, I had been waiting the whole time to play the Prelude and Fugue from Bach’s Prelude Fugue and Allegro, but one by one the other players had gone ahead of me. I felt a little sorry that I was keeping Oscar past the agreed ending hour of the class. Nevertheless, I took out my guitar and began to play. I wonder what Oscar thought about this strange little kid. At any rate, once I’d got a few bars into the Prelude he began to solfège along and smile his encouragement, and so our lifelong friendship began right there. For me it was the beginning of a fantastic collaboration.

Through all the travails of the intervening 4 decades Oscar Ghiglia has been and remains my mentor, my colleague and my friend. Surely his influence on generations of guitarists all over the world has been and remains similarly life changing. With complete justification we can say, “The sun never sets on the empire of Oscar’s students.”

Those of us who were in the very first generation of his American followers, people like Phil de Fremery, the late Peter Segal, Bruce Holzman, Tom Johnson and Sharon Isbin have made and are still making contributions to the field that derive from the innumerable lessons he imparted. Many generations later Oscar is still leading other guitarists out of the proverbial platonic cave and toward the light. Michael Newman and Laura Oltman, who have created the marvelous New York Guitar Festival, both worked with Oscar for many years, and indeed to even start a list of those who have benefited from his wisdom risks becoming an endless “ Who’s Who” of important players, teachers and guitar enthusiasts.

On this occasion of his 70th birthday year I join thousands around the world in expressing my undying gratitude, love and respect for this great artist, guitarist and unforgettable friend who has always given so much and asked for so little in return.

Welcome, from Eliot Fisk!
Boston GuitarFest is the dream of visionary guitar virtuoso Eliot Fisk. While the main focus is always on the classical guitar, the festival also aims to set the instrument within a broader musical, cultural and social context.

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